Concept and performance of a novel wave energy converter: Variable Aperture Point-Absorber (VAPA)

Siming Zheng, Yongliang Zhang and Gregorio Iglesias

Renewable Energy, 2020, vol. 153, issue C, 681-700

Abstract: Ocean waves are a huge and largely untapped resource of green energy. In order to extract energy from waves, a novel wave energy converter (WEC) consisting of a floating, hollow cylinder capped by a roof with a variable aperture is presented in this paper. The power take-off (PTO) system is composed of a linear generator attached to the seabed, driven by the heave motion of the floating cylinder through a tether line. The air pressure within the cylinder can be modified by adjusting the roof aperture. The hydrodynamic characteristics of this WEC are investigated through an analytical model based on potential flow theory, in which the wave diffraction/radiation problems are coupled with the air pressure fluctuation and PTO system. Analytical expressions are derived for the maximum power absorbed by the WEC under different optimization principles, revolving around the PTO damping, roof aperture damping and non-negative mooring stiffness. We find that the best power absorption is obtained when the aperture is either completely open or entirely closed, depending on the wave conditions. Intermediate values of the aperture are useful to minimize the heave motion and thus ensure survivability under extreme sea states.

Keywords: Wave power; Wave energy converter; Marine renewable energy; Ocean energy; Point-absorber (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148120301567
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:153:y:2020:i:c:p:681-700

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.01.134

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().